


Eyes Of The Beholder

by HeadphoneActor



Category: Naruto
Genre: Coming Out, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 as Family (Naruto), Female Friendship, Female Uzumaki Naruto, Lesbian Haruno Sakura, Multi, Nara Shikamaru-centric, Past Lives, Protective Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto-centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-01-24
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:00:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22086775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeadphoneActor/pseuds/HeadphoneActor
Summary: She could see the future. He can see the past. All they see is tragedy.Loosely inspired by Extraordinary You.
Relationships: Akimichi Chouji & Nara Shikamaru & Yamanaka Ino, Haruno Sakura & Hatake Kakashi & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura & Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura & Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura/Hyuuga Hinata/Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 9
Kudos: 70





	1. Chapter 1

Naruto had always been able to do it. At least, from what she can remember. She could be doing anything when she'd suddenly be gone. Flashes of things or places she may or may not recognise. As little as a minute or as long as a year can go by but the flashes would always happen sometime in the future. It helped, especially when she was running from angry ABNU who were pissed at her pranks. She could force them but it left her feeling lightheaded, nothing she couldn't power through. It also helped avoid angry civies or Mitsuki, her teacher. Never Iruka. It was like the power enjoyed watching her getting in trouble with the usually mild mannered chunin. She has thought it was some kekkei genkai, but, she had found nothing that was similar. The closest she found was one that gave users the ability to see their past lives, which, was kinda useless in her opinion, and, unless she got a real cool, seemingly random upgrade compared to the people who had that kekkei genkai she doubted it was that. So no, it was just her, unless it was a really rare, incredibly well hidden power. That had been her conclusion and she had decided to protect her may or may not be kekkei genkai by not telling anyone. Ever.  
For the most part her ability wasn't intrusive, it never hindered her, it was definitely the one thing that kept her from failing school, the only time it had a problem was, oddly enough, around her classmate, Shikamaru. She doubted she would care much for the boy if it wasn't for the fact every time she's close to him she's assaulted by image after image, she is never able to see what they are and her eyes burn afterwards, her head aches and she threw up the first time she experienced it. But, she wasn't the only one affected by this, Shikamaru also looked like he was in pain every time they were close, holding his head and looking pale. They had decided, without talking, to never talk, never interact or communicate. To stay clear and stay as far apart as possible. At first, the class had been confused as to why they had point blank refused to be in eachothers general vicinity despite not seeming like they hated or disliked eachother but the class had decided it was just a quirk they had and never asked.  
Naruto did wish sometimes they could talk without having their heads explode, he seemed nice enough and he got along with Kiba, one of the only people she could call a friend, so she assumed he was good company.  
But she wasn't completely bothered by it, she didn't need to talk to him, she had her best friend Sakura, Kiba and sometimes Hinata and that's all she really needed.  
She was curious, however, as to why they reacted so violently to each others presence, he was too, at least, she thinks he is, he'd often look her way, his face burning with intrigue, like she was a puzzle, one he couldn't solve yet as it was on fire. That thought made her a little sad though, for, when the fire dies out the puzzle piece would have been disintegrated, leaving nothing to solve. She didn't want to think about it too much, today was the day she became a genin and she wasn't about to get distracted! She can do this!


	2. Chapter 2

Shikamaru didn't hate Naruto, but she did leave certain questions swirling in his head that he couldn't even begin to answer. She was in his dreams, but, not the normal kind of dreams, the ones where everyone is in a different period, a different era. Maybe before the clan wars, he was never sure. He knew exactly what to do, what to say, he was Shikamaru, but not who he is today. He recognizes only two people. Sasuke, the last Uchiha. And Naruto. Normal, boring Naruto. Only, not normal, not boring because in his dreams she's a princess. A powerful princess of Uzumaki clan, shes strong, beautiful, deadly and Shikamaru serves her. She is his Queen, Naruto Uzumaki, dead last, can't do a simple clone, ramen obsessed, ditzy blonde Naruto was a feared but beloved Queen in what is perhaps a past life. Its absurd, but he sees it. In the way she walks, in the way she easily garners attention when shes speaking, how, when properly taught she can easily defeat much larger opponents like her friend Kiba or even Shino. She could definitely become the strong leader he sees. The only problem is that he can't go near her. The moment he does his head bursts with images and what he thinks are memories. In the moment he is shocked, he sees something so utterly unforgettable and something he longs for. The moment they move away it's gone. He desperately wants to know what he sees as he Immediately forgets but he feels his brain going gooey and spilling out of his ears. Will he ever know? It scares him, how desperate he is in those seconds, what does he see? He feels such a magnitude of emotions run through him and the thought he'll never know which beings such a strong, abnormal feeling out of him scares him so much. He sleeps a lot, trying to force more dreams but they come when they please, unable to force them, he just has to wait. He wants to help her, push her into the woman he see's become, but he can't, so he'll watch and wait for her to become stronger, deadlier, faster, scarier. He can't wait, but he can't stop the dreadful thought that she may never get there, will never unleash her full potential.


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto thought being able to tell the future was pretty cool until what she see happens to be not what she wanted. It's even more frustrating because, she can't do anything about it, not really, if she has a vision it will happen and she can't stop it. It was pretty disheartening, having a preppy conversation with Sakura only for her brain to fizzle round the edges to show her miserable attempt at a clone and the pitying look from Iruka only then to be forced to wait for twenty minutes in the classroom, knowing of her failure. Her sudden change of mood wasn't missed by Sakura who immediately stuck her arm out to surround the blondes shoulders.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, her entire demeanor was so kind and soft, Naruto couldn't help shuffle closer to the girl.

"Nothing I just...have a feeling y'know? I think I'm going to fail" Naruto admitted, her stomach churned in regret for something that hadn't even happened yet. She felt herself biting her lip and the taste of blood was unpleasant but grounding. 

"What? Naru-chan!", Sakura started, her voice was hushed in awareness of the others in the room but still held an air of authority that Naruto couldn't help but laser focus on. "You are an incredible ninja, you're taijutsu is the best among the girls, even better than Hinata-chan and she has that crazy eye slam thing!", Naruto couldn't help but hope that the girl hadn't heard how Sakura described her families specialised taijutsu. "You're the third fastest person in our class and you might suck at genjutsu like the clone but you ain't shabby with ninjutsus! The clone is one, small skill that we'll probably never use in actual ninja work, they'll have to be crazy to fail you, you could be a wonderful taijutsu master or if you learned a few more ninjutsus you could become fairly rounded, especially if you get some sort of weapon! Or you could use poison, bombs, hell you could probably use those reflexes of yours and become a tracker or use those pranks as future training for sabotage missions! You would be an incredible asset to Konoha and its impossible for the teachers not to see it!" 

Sakura almost sounded out of breathe after her tirade, Naruto felt a bubbling at the back of her throat as she threw her arms around her best friend, a soft "Sakura..." was whined into the pinkettes shoulder. Sakura patted the blonde girl softly.

"Sakura Haruno." Iruka had wandered in and had politely gave the pair a second before announcing he needed Sakura in the examination room. 

Sakura nodded and was unwillingly released from the tight cuddle Naruto had entrapped her in. Sakura gave Narutos hand a comforting squeeze, a tight smile plastered on her face.

"You'll do fine, I believe in you!" She gave Naruto a thumbs up as she left the room.

Naruto now felt worse, in the moment, the kind, comforting words had helped but now she was left alone, all she could think about was the fact she was going to fail and disappoint Sakura. It made her stomach curl and face twist in anxiety.

Hinata was called not long after, on the way down she gave Naruto a small smile and mouthed a sincere "good luck" her way. Naruto felt herself slide down on her chair, lord the knowing was torture, she couldn't even pretend to be confident, despite this she gave the young heiress a thumbs up back while mouthing "you too".

There wasn't many people left in the room and the minutes ticked by in silence.

"Shikamaru Nara" Iruka called.

Shikamaru made his way down but stopped on the stairs level with Naruto, he turned to the blonde girl, who had scooted as far away as possible from him. He gave her a level look, staring into her eyes, her eyes were twitching in pain and he had noticeably started to sweat.

"You're becoming Hokage, right? You need to pass." With that, rather anticlimactic but shockingly unexpected speech he walked to Irukas side who was giving the young boy a confused look. A look the few people left in the class also shared, Shikamaru evidently didn't care as he shuffled past unbothered around Iruka and started walking towards the examination room, the older man turned and caught up quickly. Naruto felt several confused but intrigued eyes trailing over her and felt her shoulders lift towards her ears in embarrassment. Their confusion wasn't unwarranted, Naruto was just as confused. She was already set to fail so why was everyone so confident in her pass?


	4. Chapter 4

He passed with flying colours, no one was really all that surprised, Chouji had asked if he wanted to get barbeque to celebrate but he had declined. He was wandering around, he wasn't willing to put his headband on yet, it was bothersome, he'd get some random chunnin start taunting him saying he ain't a real ninja or something. Like, what was happening to Shino at that very second. 

"Shortcake here thinks he's a ninja now cause he got that dumb ass headband on, you ain't nothing yet pip squeak" oh, so insulting, this dude really hit a goldmine with these. 

"Yeah, you probably couldn't fight a toddler let alone a proper ninja, I took on the Taijutsu Thunder, it's how I got this scar" the second ninja lifted his shirt to show a scar. It was fairly gruesome but Shikamaru couldn't help but think the dude was embarrassing himself. 

"So why are you wondering around like some cock, you're just one hopeful in a sea of thousands, you're gonna be gutted by some Suna genin" the second ninja started laughing hysterically, the bland look Shino gave was far more comical than what the first dude said but Shikamaru guesses intelligence is a limited resource these buffoons didn't get a hold of. 

"Can you imagine," the scarred ninja almost choked, "getting beat by some Suna ninja, can you- can you" he started laughing again and Shikamaru was amused at how many civilians looked ready to boot him. He was really annoying.

Shikamaru was debating whether to get Shino out or continue walking when the tell tale blonde hair of Naruto stormed onto the scene like a small hurricane. He hadn't seen her since the test a little under a week ago, he remembered she hadn't had her headband on when she left that day but she has one now. Had something happened? 

"Oi, what do you think you're doing?" She held herself wide, her fists curling in fist, she was angry but not that particular brand of "Naruto angry" that the class had the displeasure of being on the opposite side of from time to time. So the dudes will probably leave with their psyche intact. Probably.

"Ay, it's the little demon brat!" The chunnin with the scar grinned mockingly at Naruto, stalking over towards the girl. His friend stayed near Shino but relaxed as he watched his friend, amused.

"What you doing here little demon brat? Shouldn't you be trying to kill orphans or something? Or are you too weak for that? Aww, tiny little demon brat is too weak to fight a civilian!" The pair laughed hysterically again, it was annoying. The dude kept trying to taunt the girl, but, they were weird. Like, really weird. 

"Aren't you gonna kill me? Stamp on me like the big, strong, scary demon you are?" The ninja poked his finger on her forehead, right on her shiny headband. Her head tilted back with the small push and she let out a growl.

"Ooh, its growling, you think it'll attack me? Remember demon brat, if you bite you'll be put down! We can't have dangerous, untrained animals like you wandering about m'kay!" The man cheerfully pushed Naruto again, on the shoulder. The push was firmer, meaner.

"Excuse me-" the friend held Shino, tightly stuffing his hand over the boys mouth to stop his interruption. Shino struggled, his calmness from before draining as panic set in, he was obviously scared and worried. It was obvious the worry bled over towards the blonde girl too.

Shikamaru waited, everyone around him did the. Exact. Same. Thing. The street had become uncomfortably quite, everyone was watching. Waiting. Just like him. Was this mob mentality? The bystander effect? Had he unknowingly become a silent observer, afraid to question the majority? Where was his backbone? 

"Are you mad? Pissed? Why? I'm just showing what it's like for us when we see you! Is it uncomfortable? Unnerving? Scary? That's how us humans feel when we see you, was it fun? Killing hundreds and now you get to live in luxury, in the place you destroyed, in a comfy body that you can use to kill everyone again! Is that your little plan, demon brat? Is that why you became a ninja? No one would question why you're trying to get stronger, will they? Clever, but humans aren't stupid little demon. The Hokage might not see it but I do, I know what you are. Step out of line and I'll kill you, I promise you that." The ninja straightened his back, the first chunnin who had been beside Shino walked over, clapped the scarred ninja on the back and they strolled off together. It was anticlimactic and left a muddle of questions echoing in his brain. The repetitive use of "demon" and the weird, detailed references. It left a burn behind his eyes. Or that was Naruto. Both? Anyways, it hurt. He needed a nap. A nap would help him organize his thoughts, he could mull afterwards. 

He didn't even glance to see if Naruto or Shino were okay, too lost in his singular task to find a spot to nap. The thought that Shino and Naruto were shaken up didn't even cross his mind, he couldn't even feel guilty. 

The base of the tree he found was comfortable enough to not bruise or make his back ache, the area completely blocked the sun and was fairly quite except for the bugs that inhabited the area. Sleep pulled him in quickly and just before he drifted Shikamaru realized the sleepiness wasn't natural. 

' He stood behind her like always, her golden hair was intricately braided and it stood out like a beacon in the dead of night. Her clothes was just as detailed and obtrusive in the darkness. In contrast, he was hidden almost completely, everything but his eyes decked in black and dark blues, he smoothed himself naturally into the shadows, an assassin, a loyal guard. Anything else she needed.

"Nara-san," the woman in front didn't even glance at him or wait for an affirmation that he heard, she rolled on, unbothered and uncaring.

"Why are you still here? It was once understandable, when I was younger, but now? It seems to be a waste of good resources to keep you here. You could be used in combat, why would I need a bodyguard anymore? I'm more than capable." Her voice was strong, demanding an answer for each question but he only had one answer.

"I'm loyal to you and you only." Was his stoic reply. She gave a suffering sigh.

"No. No you're not. You're loyal to the crown. If I wasn't the next in line you would say the exact same to whoever was." Her voice raised, uncomfortably loud in the still darkness, it put him on edge. 

"I'm only loyal to you, Uzumaki-hime" he bowed, dragging every inch of respect he could into it. She sighed again, sadder. She pulled her legs to her chest and tucked her chin on her knees.

"You've never said my name" it was quite but he heard it.

"Uzumaki-hime..." he trailed. She blew air from her mouth, obviously annoyed.

"It doesn't matter!" She threw her hands up, "it doesn't matter, I don't care! If you're loyal to me, loyal to the crown, loyal to the goddamn ribbon in my hair! I dont care! I'm going home!" She started walking back to the castle, her eyes blazed with promises and anger, he followed. He was unsure of why she was so angry, in the three years he had been her guard and tutor she had blown up like this at least once a week but this one seemed different. More scalding and personal. 

They got to the her room, the walk had been silent and the air was drawn too tight. She flung open the door but before it closed he couldn't help the words that flew out of his mouth.

"Goodnight, Naruto-hime" she paused and then shut the door gently. '


End file.
